AUSTRALIAN DONKEYS FACE BEING BLUDGEONED TO DEATH WITH SLEDGEHAMMERS IN CHINA!

AUSTRALIAN DONKEYS FACE BEING BLUDGEONED TO DEATH IN CHINA IF THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS ITS WAY.

Just when Australian’s thought the live animal export trade couldn’t possibly get any worse, there is now a possibility that donkeys will be live exported to China, a country known for it unspeakable cruelty towards animals.

In June 2009 a media statement was released by the Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland. The Honourable Tim Mulherin expressed his desire for Australian donkeys to be live exported to China. Mr Mulherin’s first sentence really says it all.

Picture this: “balmy afternoon in Beijing, donkey steaks sizzling on the barbeque, a little romance in the air aided by some traditional Chinese medicine made from donkey skins.” He went on to say that “the best part of this scenario is the donkey has been imported from Australia”.

It is extremely unlikely that ‘the best part of this scenario is the donkey has been imported from Australia’, when there are NO animal welfare laws in China for any animal, including Australian animals. Mr Mulherin may think there will be romance in the air while Australian donkey steaks sizzle on the barbeque, but the reality is donkeys in China are killed in the most unspeakable, incomprehensible ways.

There is NOTHING romantic about the horrors donkeys face when slaughtered in China.

THE REALITY SETS IN AS AUSTRALIA ONCE AGAIN DISCUSSES ITS PLANS TO LIVE EXPORT DONKEYS TO CHINA

Alister Trier, chief executive of the NT's Department of Primary Industry, said over the past two years, the government had been approached by several Chinese companies wanting access to feral donkeys in the Northern Territory.

"The interest has been quite significant; we've had well over a dozen enquiries from different Chinese interests," Mr Trier said.

"There [are] still numbers of feral donkeys in the NT — and too many for a lot of people'sliking — but not the numbers that investors from China were led to believe."

Mr Trier toured a donkey processing factory in the Shandong province of China this year and said the industry was expanding and the demand for donkeys was incredible.

For decades Australia has been live exporting animals to the Middle East and South East Asia, this has resulted in the most horrific treatment and slaughter of Australian animals. The Australian government and the live export industry, has grossly failed to protect animals from being slaughtered in ways that are heinous. How can the government ensure that Australian donkeys are not killed in such ways if recent talks of starting up a donkey trade to China become a reality? The answer is it cannot. Investigators have repeatedly exposed the live export trade for exactly what it is! Barbaric beyond belief…Investigators have filmed the most sickening treatment of Australian sheep and cattle on overseas soil, yet this cruel trade continues. Recently Investigators exposed footage of Australian cattle being bashed to death with sledgehammers, the same barbaric method used to kill donkeys in China.

According to Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries (DPIF) there is currently no protocol for the export of donkey hides, or meat or live donkey export to China, however the fact that this issue has raised its ugly head again is extremely concerning. Given China's love for donkey meat, we can only assume that such talks mean Australia is wanting to cash in on this.